Flagler County commissioners on Thursday gave the nod to Administrator Craig Coffey to move forward to create a partnership with the city of Bunnell to acquire the Plantation Bay utility system.

JULIE MURPHYSTAFF WRITER

BUNNELL — Flagler County commissioners on Thursday gave the nod to Administrator Craig Coffey to move forward to create a partnership with the city of Bunnell to acquire the Plantation Bay utility system. "We are trying to develop this as a joint project," Coffey said. "Bunnell qualifies for grants on the wastewater side. The less we have to finance and less we have to fund. According to (Department of Environmental Protection) rules, the county only qualifies for 20-year financing but Bunnell qualifies for 30-year." Plantation Bay, which straddles Volusia and Flagler counties over Interstate 95, has been using the current utilities since 1985, Coffey said. Flagler County has been trying to acquire it from owner and developer Mori Hosseini for more than a decade. "It's an older system. It's come to the point where the owner (will have) to make some utility upgrades," Coffey said. "Utilities are not always easy. There are some challenges."While all of the details with Bunnell remain to be finalized, the city "might" become the official owner of the facility because of its favorable financing abilities, Coffey said.County Commissioner Frank Meeker asked about the initial wording of the Plantation Bay Development of Regional Impact agreement that has made the transfer of the utilities to the county problematic in the past decade."On our side, it is crystal clear. On the seller's side, it's not," Coffey said, adding that entering litigation is always uncertain.County Attorney Al Hadeed read the portion of the agreement dealing with the utility, which would provide a "very significant discount" to Flagler County because of the money already paid by homeowners for it."That is very strong language exempting the county from things like condemnation fees," Hadeed said. "The developer believes they can defeat it in court."The attorney said there would also be "a fight about what constitutes the actual value" of the system and it would be a time-consuming and costly.Coffey has recommended giving the developer future credits to bring down the sale price, which is likely to end up at $7 million.Commissioner George Hanns said the plan should be carefully crafted. "We've asked over and over, and now the seller is ready to negotiate," Hanns said. "Have any known improvements been put into place? It is understood that whatever burden we take, it is up to the users to pay for that burden." Commissioner Barbara Revels asked that if the county and city reach an agreement, that Bunnell should not be permitted to annex Plantation Bay unless the residents want it."In my district, down John Anderson, those people don't want to be annexed," she said. "I think the same is true for these people." Most of the 1,600 or so current utility customers in Plantation Bay live in Volusia County but about 70 percent of the undeveloped portion of the community is in Flagler County.Resident Jane Gentile-Youd asked to have any rate increase capped that may come with improvements to the system. "I'm very glad this is occurring. We had no water at all one day. We have a lot of health issues," she said. "If we have to have a rate increase, I would like to have that capped. We have a lot of people on fixed incomes. We don't just have a special assessment thrown on us." But rates in Plantation Bay are good because improvements haven't been made, Coffey said. "The problems are staring you in the face and you're going to have to deal with them no matter who owns it," he said.